Electrically-heated soldering-iron.



M. H. JOHNSON.

BLEGTRIGALLY HBATED soLDBRING IRON.

APPLIUATION FILED DEU. 18, 1909.

Patented June 17, 1913.

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MONTGOMERY H. JOHNSON, OF UTICA, NEW YORK.

ELECTRICALLY-HEATED SOLDERING-IRON.

Application le December 18, 1909.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 17,12%3,

Serial No. 533,919.

T all 2li/0m t may concern Be it known that I, MONTGOMERY H. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in TUtica, in the county of Oneida and State ot New York, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Electrically Heated Soldering Irons, ot which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class ot soldering-irons that are heated by electricity.

It is an object of the invention to guard against that destruction, in structure, that is common in devices of this kind, as a result ot' the extreme degree ot heat, created by the current, that must be maintained in order to render suoli devices eiiicient.

Electric heaters tor soldering-irons, used in the art of can-sealing, or what is more commonly known as can capping machines, are subject to numerous conditions, which so aiiect their general structure as to rapidly impair their usefulness. To the overcoming of these detects, by improved structural organization, is the invention especiallyT directed.

On a sheet ot drawings forming a part ot this specication, l have illustrated, in numerous views, one of the practical forms or arrangements into which the essence of the invention can be embodied, it being understood, of course, that within the purview ot this invention, and the range of mechanical and electrical skill, Variations may be resorted to in the building up of structures of this type.

On this sheet of drawings, Figure l illustrates various portions ot av soldering iron assembled, all of the portions, excepting the heating element being in section; Fig. 2 illustrates, partly in elevation and partly in section, the iron assembled with a portion of suitable operating mechanism of a can capping machine; Fig. 3 illustrates two views, coinprehending a convenient method introducing a heater-element, such as a coil, into a heater case for a. heater of this kind; Fig. 4t illustrates the result of a process by which portions of the heater case are unitedto other portions of the case in such a manner as to render the casing practically and substantially jointless and hermetically sealed, and Fig. 5 illustrates a diagram, by electrical sign, indicating that the heaters may be used in series.

Inasinuch as the means tor mechanically operating the irons, when placed in a can sealing or can capping machine, constitute a minor portion ot the invention, very little of such operating mechanism need be illustrated. lt information on this point is desired, reference may be had to Letters Patent of the United States, granted to me on December the 3rd, lQOT, Number 872,656, on an application tiled in the vUnited States Patent Oiiice on April 5th, 1907. However, it may be said that the iron is mounted tor rotation, in a bearing 6, carried on a standard 7, extending from a can table S. ot a can sealing or capping machine. This iron may be rotated by any suitable means, tor instance, by a gear 9, suitably7 associated with an elongated stein ot' the iron. In order to elevate the iron from a can lO, and to permit it to associate therewith alternately, an arm l1, controlled as to lateral movement by a stop l2, may be affixed to said iron, and both are raised and lowered, at will, by a suitable cam 13.

Applying the specification more especially to a construction and arrangement ot parts of a soldering device ot this character, and a convenient method ot constructing the same, an electric heating element, in this case consisting of a coil ot wire, preferably relativelyT large in cross-section, may be convoluted on a mandrel of some suitable torni ot construction, such. tor instance. as is illustrated at lil. with a lead 16. passing through the coil. @ne ot the leads. as l5, is passed through an aperture in the mandrel, and convolutions are made about the same, while the other lead passes into a recess in the mandrel and is positioned parallel with the first named lead, tor instance, in a manner as shown. However, it to be understood that the niet iod of forming this heat-producing element. constitutes no iinproved feature ot the invention, except in so far as some practical means must be adopted for pre-paring this element. The structure so Jformed is incased in an electric insulation 17, and is then introduced into a casing 1S, the leads being housed in an elongated stem 19, the purpose of which, among other things. is to allow the leads to be carried away from the iron heating case, and still be protected against interferences ot' any undesirable nature.

In the use ot devices of this kind, especially in connection with can sealing or capping machinery-as the term is more com.-

monly employed, it is important and necessary to exclude the iiux, its vapors, and various moistures from the interior of the casing 18. In order to accomplish this result, there may be introduced into a portion of the elongated stem, a filling 20, such as cement or any other suitable material, and an insulated plug 2l, a cap 22 and a plug 23, which form the top and bottom walls of the casing 1S, may be provided with annular peripheral recesses 24:, and 25, in which may be contained a suit-able iilling 2G, which, in connection with any suitable process form hermetically seal-ed joints, as indicated more especially in F ig. d. The walls of the parts creating the oints may be so suitably fused or welded by any suitable process, such for instance, as that which abounds in the use ot acetylene gas and oxygen, that the metals of the various walls of the various parts, may so flow together as to create autogenous joints by the flowing together ot the metal as indicated at 2G on the drawing. It will thus be seen that the heating element is sate from contact with any undesirable substances that might aid in its destruction. This heating element is inserted into a cavity oli a solder-fusing element 27, and both are relatively movable in order that the solder-fusing element may approach and recede from the can. This solder-fusing element may be of any suitable construction and form, and is known in the art as the steel. The structure thus assembled may be so used, or the steel may be partially enveloped in a heat insulating casing 28, between which, and the element Q7, is a comparatively large wall of heat insulation 9.9.

It will be seen that l have constructed an electrical heater, in a metallic case, which, in the form illustrated, consists of a few turns of relatively large wire placed inside of the case with suitable refractory insulation, and that I have so suitably joined the elements of the casing into which the heating element is placed, that a true metallic union exists throughout the structure of the case, and therefore the heating element is insured against contact with undesirable substances.

Another important feature of the invention is that coils made in this manner, and placed in a plurality of heating cases for a plurality of solder-fusing elements, in one machin-e, may be, as can be noted from the diagram in F ig. 5, connected in series so that the current will pass consecutively through each heating elem-ent in the machine.

The measure of volt-ages used where canning machinery is operated, gages from one hundred to two hundred and fifty volts and direct current, at the present time, is employed` By constructing a heater, in accordance with this invention, it may be used by existing plants, and produce a suiiicient length of life to insure entirelv satisfactory service. Obviously the same result with low voltage and much current can be obtained if alternating current is available.

Having thus described this invention, I claim.

l. In an electrically heated soldering iron, the combination of a hermetically-sealed heater-case, an electric heat-generating coil located in said case, and a solder-fusing member adapted to be heated from said case.

2. ln an electrically heated soldering iron, the combination of a hermetically-sealed heater-case having autogenous joints, an elect-ric heat-generating coil located in said case, and a solder-fusing member adapted to be heated from said case.

3. In an electrically heated soldering iron, the combination of a heater case,a hollow stem extending therefrom, an electric heatgenerating coil located in said case and hermetically sealed therein, leads from said coil passing out through said stem and hermetically sealed therein, the joints in said case and between said case and stem being autogenous, and a solder-fusing member adapted to be heated from said case.

1l. In an electric heater device, the combination of a hollow casing, insulation arranged about the inner surface of the outer shell of said casing and an electric heatgenerating coil arranged in open convolutions within said insulation and tensioned to expand thereagainst and hold said insulation against the casing.

Signed at Utica, in the county of Gneida and State of New York, this 5 day of Oct. 1909.

MONTGOMERY H. JOHNSON.

litnesses FRED. 7. BARNAcLo, VARD R. TAYLOR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patente.

Washington, D. C. 

